


spring bloom

by cave_canem



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider, eye emoji, matt's pov on andreil, post-Baltimore, they're all friends look it's beautiful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 16:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16936581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cave_canem/pseuds/cave_canem
Summary: Matt thinks hemightbe starting to understand.





	spring bloom

**Author's Note:**

> written for the [aftgvotes](https://aftgvotes.tumblr.com/) for someone who asked the prompt: anything with andriel post cannon and I mean like within the next couple weeks or like nicky and/or Matt's view on andriel post cannon.

On Friday, they lose Neil Josten. On Saturday, they get him back with small cracks running down his surface. On Sunday, they wake up temporarily missing two vital parts of their small group.

It’s weird, to say the least.

Everything’s happened to fast that Matt feels like he’s got whiplash.

Coach wakes them up at seven. Or rather—he gathers them up at seven. They’re all already awake, including Kevin, though he looks the worse for wear. They probably all do. They haven’t slept correctly in two days and most of them have taken a serious beating in the riot. Matt’s bruised ribs have been throbbing all night.

They were reluctant to spread too much after Neil and Andrew left with the Feds, so Wymack caved and rented them two new rooms—no one’s in the motel but their team and the FBI, anyway. Allison, Renee, Dan and Matt share a room identical to the one they’ve spent hours waiting in—two queen beds they lay on in silence for most of the dark hours. Andrew’s lot took the other room, weirdly off-balance without Andrew or Neil in their midst. It’s weird to see their group severed down to a trio after all those months, but at least this time they know it’s temporary.

“Rise and shine,” Coach says when Renee opens the door for him. He watches them, clean but back in their sweaty and dirty clothes. “There’s a diner down the road. Meet me downstairs in two minutes.”

Dan nods for all of them. Coach leaves and silence descends down on their group again.

“Let’s go,” Allison says finally. “I want to see Coach wake Kevin up.”

They follow her outside on the walkway. Dan’s hand brushes against Matt’s injured one, but she doesn’t try to hold it, which is probably for the best. He presses their arms closer, a silent show of support.

Kevin is disappointingly awake, but Allison doesn’t say anything. They all know how to exist without Neil and even without Andrew—they did it in the fall—but their combined absence and the circumstances surrounding it leaves a bitter taste in Matt’s mouth.

The diner is mostly empty when they get in. The cheery waitress seems to sense the mood as soon as she approaches their table and tones down her welcome. She diligently waits when it’s Nicky and Kevin’s turn to order and only silence answers her.

Aaron glances at them. He rolls his eyes and orders for them. Neither of them protests, although it’s a weird sensation. It seems they don’t know how to act without reenacting their too-closely knit group with uneven power dynamics.

It’s strange, like a glance in their intimacy.

“When are they coming back?” Renee finally asks as their orders are placed in front of them on the table.

Wymack grunts. “Feds told me they’ll be taking everything from the beginning this morning.”

“So—all day,” Aaron says.

Renee nods minutely. Matt remembers suddenly that among all of them, she is the one who has the most experience with that kind of situation. It is a gritty thought, but strangely comforting.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Wymack says, spooning eggs on a toast.

Down the table, Kevin lets out a drawn-out groan and slowly slouches over the table. He pillows his head on his arms and looks for all intents and purposes like he’s going to fall asleep right here and there.

They all stare at him, but he doesn’t react.

“Can I have your pancakes?” Nicky asks after a while.

Kevin pushes the plate toward him with the tip of his fingers. The next minute, his breathing deepens like he’s truly fallen asleep.

“Okay,” Allison drawls out in a low voice.

It breaks the atmosphere of incredulity. Nicky laughs around his mouthful of pancakes and starts a general reaction.

* * *

The atmosphere is frigid in the car to the mountains. Neil’s declaration on Kevin’s behalf has shocked them all, but Dan’s brooding and hurt presence in the passenger seat ices down all conversation. Renee and Allison exchange glances and silent conversations in the backseat for most of the trip. Matt checks on them in the rearview mirror and meets their eyes more than once. Not once does he feel like smiling.

Halfway through the journey they stop for a bathroom break. Allison and Renee disappear in the gas station while Matt fills up his tank. Dan doesn’t move from the passenger seat, but after a minute she pulls down the window.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

Matt looks up, holding the pump. Dan’s leaning down, chin on her hands. She looks pale and sad.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he says.

“I pushed you away.”

“You were upset. I get it.”

Except he doesn’t, not really. He’s mad, but he’s also not as close to Coach as Dan. He thinks of Kevin’s tense expression as he met them in the hallway before departing. Matt strongly suspects this impossible situation hurts them both.

“I have to talk to him,” Dan is saying.

“Talk or _talk_?”

Dan looks away for a brief second. “Talk,” she says finally. “I won’t hurt him—I’m not stupid like you boys are—” Matt accepts the rebuke with a small smile. It’s an outrageous lie; Dan has proven several times that she doesn’t mind hitting a few heads to get her message across, but generally she prefers the verbal approach.

The rest of the drive passes more comfortably. Dan reaches for the radio, spinning the dial until Allison tells her to stop at the station playing. They start singing horribly off-key until Matt and even Renee join in.

They arrive at the cabin first.

“Ha,” Matt says as they pull up in the empty driveway. “Take that, fancy Maserati.”

“They must have stopped on the way,” Renee says.

“You’re too nice.”

“No, I’ve been in a car with Andrew driving,” Renee corrects.

Matt hip-checks her out the way and opens the door. The cabin is grand and comfy, all wood and warm colors.

“There are five bedrooms,” Allison says. “Hurry up if you want the king beds.”

Dan rushes up the staircase after her at that, both of them shoving each other out of the way. The cabin’s so noisy that it sounds like a pack of elephants is stomping over Matt’s head; he follows at a much leisurely pace.

He finds Dan spread out in one of the corner bedrooms, feet hanging out of the side of the bed.

“Look,” she says, rolling on her stomach. Lying the way she is across the bed, her head doesn’t even come close to the end of the mattress. “An actual bed. We could almost jump on it.”

“Maybe not,” Matt says, thinking how much Allison’s spent on this vacation. He’s pretty sure breaking a bed here would cost them enough to plan another one.

Renee discovers the hot tub next, so they all strip, change, and pile up in the warm water. It’s a delicious contrast with the cool air of the mountains. Allison and Dan cross their legs on top of Matt’s so that he has room to stretch diagonally.

“Alright,” Allison says. “We have free time before the interested parties arrive, so we need to talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” Renee asks. She doesn’t react to Allison’s look.

“Neil and Andrew, of course.”

Dan groans, tipping her head back against the edge of the tub. “Is it as weird for everyone as it is for me?”

“No,” Renee says.

Dan gestures in her direction. “You don’t count. You already have receipts on Andrew behaving like a actual fucking human being.”

Renee frowns.

“I feel like it makes sense, though,” Matt says to divert the conversation. “Like, it’s weird, but on the other hand, anything else would be even weirder.”

“Shut up,” Allison says. “You bet against them.”

“It was a long time ago. If we could change our bets—”

“Cheating!” Allison exclaims. She splashes Matt, shrieking when he returns the gesture.

“You just want all the money,” Dan retorts.

“Guilty as charged.” She shrugs. “I deserve it.”

“Anyway. Renee—any idea when it happened?”

“I don’t think it’s any of my business.”

“Ugh. Fine. We’ll just have to ask them.”

“Ooooh,” Matt says. “Someone has suicidal tendencies.”

The noise of a car pulling up in the driveway interrupts their conversation. In the next minute, they hear Nicky enthusiastically giving the downstairs bedroom to Andrew and Neil. They look at each other, not bothering to hide their smiles when no sound of Nicky being maimed or stabbed is heard next. Silence is Andrew’s preferred way of agreement. Matt used to think it stemmed from lack of interest, but now he wonders if it’s not simply a way for him to keep his emotions close to his chest where no one can access them.

* * *

Neil characteristically refuses to answer further questions about his relationship with Andrew for the rest of the week. He plays the kidnapped-and-forced-to-reveal-all-of-his-secrets-to-the-world card, which is fairly difficult to beat, so they let him be.

Sometimes they listen intently going to and back from the bathroom in the evening, but even Nicky, who dares to climb down half the staircase and lean over the railing, doesn’t hear anything. Either Andrew and Neil are not having sex or they’re doing it very quietly.

“They are,” Kevin says one morning as Neil and Andrew are out back smoking, staring at each other and generally being too intense for the public eye.

All heads turn toward him. He’s lying down on one couch, history book propped on his stomach.

“How’d you know?” Nicky asks. He looks offended that Kevin has more knowledge of his cousin and Neil than he does.

Kevin doesn’t look up from his book. “I mean—it’s obvious, isn’t it? They’re not exactly subtle.”

“It’s obvious they’re together,” Matt corrects. “Other than that, I don’t see how you’d know.”

Kevin claps his book closed, swinging into a sitting position. “Do any of you have eyes?” he asks. He sounds slightly scornful, as usual, but mostly genuinely curious. He waves at the door Andrew and Neil have disappeared through. “It’s obvious,” he repeats.

Nicky shakes his head. “You mistake Neil’s obsession with Exy for sexual desire,” he accuses laughingly. Kevin makes an outraged noise and stalks off.

* * *

Nonetheless, the conversation sticks with Matt through the rest of the year.

He helps Neil pack up his things and move into the cousin’s dorm, welcoming an awkwardly silent Aaron in Neil’s place. Neither of them seems to mind, but the change only serves to cement the trio of Andrew-Neil-Kevin. Nicky hangs in the outskirts—he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Kevin has a point,” he says one night, sitting on Matt’s couch. He’s been by much more often since the change. Aaron, on the contrary, tends to disappear with Katelyn. It has shifted the dynamics of the team, the factions only appearing clearer now that the lines are starting to blur.

Dan stops shuffling cards, raising an eyebrow at him.

“About Andrew and Neil,” Nicky explains. “I’m going to say it now because Aaron isn’t here to look constipated every time someone mentions them—”

Allison toasts him with her mojito.

“About them being obvious, you mean?” Matt asks.

Nicky bursts out. “It’s insane!” he complains. “They don’t even touch and you just feel like you should leave the room. I don’t know how Kevin stands them. You know that look Neil gets whenever Andrew does something on court?”

They all nod. Neil might claim that he doesn’t swing, but Andrew and Exy—and even better, Andrew when he shows a modicum of care in Exy—sure seem to be doing the pushing.

“It’s like that,” Nicky says, “but worse.”

Dan shivers. “Awkward,” she says.

“You have no idea. The other night the sport channel did a segment with highlights on our season—Neil wouldn’t stop staring at Andrew over that score with the Ravens.”

“The thirteen out of a hundred and fifty goals?” Renee asks.

“The _what_?” Allison exclaims.

Renee smiles calmly. Most of them never looked further than the thirteen points the Ravens managed to score, except maybe Dan. Matt has spent a long time feeling ashamed that the defense line was so inefficient that the Ravens could even break through them _one hundred and fifty times_.

From the satisfied nature of her smile, Renee brought this fact to them on purpose. Matt ignores if her aim was to boost their opinion of Andrew in a conversation that tends to objectify his relationship into something to be scrutinized. Maybe she wanted to humble them down as well.

“I’m scared and awed,” he says.

“Neil was awed and _aroused_ ,” Nicky snickers. “It was so awkward. I had to ask him three times if he wanted something to eat, and then they both left to make out on the roof.”

“Please don’t use the words Neil and aroused in the same sentence ever again,” Dan begs, quickly handing out cards. They slide on the smooth surface of the coffee table.

“Don’t you want the gossip?” Allison asks.

“I don’t want to think of Neil as someone with an active sex drive,” Dan replies. She wrinkles her nose. “It feels weirder than Andrew and him being in a relationship did.”

“Shall we play?” Renee asks as all the cards have been given out, effectively killing the topic.

* * *

The problem, Matt realizes as he speeds across the court to Neil and Andrew, is that all this time they’ve thought of the two of them as separate entities colliding in the most unexpected way.

It’s not like that. He should have realized it when he witnessed Andrew’s reaction at Binghamton, his agitation at Neil’s disappearance.

He was overwhelmed then. Today he looks determined, standing above a kneeling Neil like a protective figure.

“Neil,” Dan exclaims. She’s the first one of them to reach him, Matt hot on her heels.

Neil lets himself being pulled upward and patted down. He looks dizzy, either from the close assault or the sound of Riko’s agonized screams behind the barrier of Foxes gathering between them.

“We won,” he says.

He sparks an incredulous but delighted reaction among the Foxes. Dan grips him and laughs. Matt whoops. They continue their interrupted celebration around Neil. At some point Renee ropes Andrew into—not participating per se, but at least stepping closer and swinging his racket upward. All this time, he’s been holding it out in front of Neil.

He just shattered Riko’s arm, Matt realizes as the court is invaded by officials to gather the teams and take Riko away. The Foxes have been reluctant witness of Andrew’s protective tendencies for months now, but something in the determined clench of his jaw and the calm look in his eyes strikes Matt.

Neil reaches behind himself for Andrew, still on the outskirts of their group, and Matt thinks he gets it, now.

Andrew taps the butt of his racket twice on the floor and gently nudges Neil forward toward the door. He seems to understand that the Foxes won’t move as long as Neil stays still in the middle of the court. Neil smiles back at him and starts the long walk to the door.

Wymack is watching them on other side of the plexiglass wall, looking proud as they walk by together.

* * *

Neil and Andrew are, characteristically, the last ones to step on the bus. Even Wymack comes in before they do, despite his threats to leave them behind.

The atmosphere in the bus is electric. They’re tired to the bone but exultant.

Wymack bears their chatter for all of two minutes before he leans on the horn of the bus. It’s a loud thing. It’s lucky the stadium is away from student dorms—Matt is pretty sure he’d have woken up everyone in a one-mile radius.

All the Foxes jump a foot in the air.

“Jesus, Coach,” Nicky says, laying a hand on his chest. “A little warning?”

Coach points at him. “If they don’t come out this second, I’m leaving them here.”

“They came out months ago,” Aaron deadpans. He’s slouched so far in his seat only the top of his head is visible over the padded back of the seat.

Coach glares at him with the strength of one very tired middle-aged man. “Oooohh,” the Foxes say in unison.

The door of the stadium opens then and Neil and Andrew step out, holding their bags. Matt glances by the window, watching them closely. Neil’s expression is the most open Matt’s ever seen him wear.

Neither of them looks ashamed or uncomfortable to be interrupted by Coach blowing his horn like a dad with two teenagers. Neil is even smiling—his faint, secret smile that appears so rarely. Matt eyes Andrew, looking for clues that he’s the one affecting Neil like this, but Andrew looks unruffled as usual.

Except maybe for the small cowlick at the back of his head, sticking up like someone taller than him ran his fingers in Andrew’s hair. Maybe Matt’s eye is trained to notice these things by now. Maybe Andrew’s accepted to show the crack in his mask of indifference. Whatever the reason, Neil and Andrew walking close enough for their arms to touch.

“Ten bucks they were holding hands,” Dan says next to him.

“Nah.” Matt shakes his head. “Too soon.”

“It’s been three months. That we know of.”

Matt clucks his tongue. “I said what I said.”

Neil and Andrew climb on the bus. Weak cheering welcomes their arrival, probably because it means they can all go back to the hotel for partying or sleeping. Whichever comes first. They settle at the end of the bus, in Andrew’s usual seat. Wymack waits until they’re seated to start the bus and soon enough they’re on the road, everyone subdued by the wave of fatigue falling onto them.

Dan settles against Matt’s shoulder, yawning. She’s asleep in three seconds, Matt following close behind.

**Author's Note:**

> find me @[jsteneil](http://jsteneil.tumblr.com/post/180982687906/spring-bloom) on the hellsite, i'm not budging


End file.
